The Port of Brownsville appears to be continuing its record-breaking streak, handling 10.2 percent more cargo in 2022 than in 2021.
Port Director and CEO Eduardo Campirano said “preliminary final numbers” show the port moved more than 15.2 million tons of various cargoes in 2022 compared to the 13.8 million tons recorded in 2021. Steel slab again was the port’s top commodity in terms of volume, though the port also handles coil, scrap and other types of steel, plus aluminum.
Liquid bulk hydrocarbons such as premium gasoline, low sulfur-grade diesel, jet fuel, lubricants, paraffin wax also are a major source of business for the port, he said.
“We’re seeing our fair share of cement moving through the port as well,” Campirano said. “We’re seeing sugar. In fact, right now in our sheds we’ve probably got a lot of cement, we’ve got sugar, we’ve got celestite sand. … We’ve got a full of host of commodities, so it’s been good.”
Wind turbine components also contribute significantly, he said. While the port experienced a slight dip in 2022, 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for wind-related cargo, Campirano said.
“We’ve become one of the top ports for the handling of the wind (turbine) blades,” he said. “We’re railing 50 percent of them. We can go all the way to Canada by rail. It’s no longer just projects in the area here along the border. … Once we developed the capability of handling that stuff by rail it really expanded for us. … I think this summer we have a project where we’re going to be shipping blades to Chile by vessel.”
The blades are moved out by barge, rail and truck, depending on their destination, Campirano said, adding that rail car movements by the port’s short-line Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railway also broke an all-time record at more than 72,000, likewise representing a 10.2 percent increase from the previous year.
Campirano said rail line is an essential aspect of the port and that rail car movements have grown roughly 20 percent each year for the past four or five years.
The port saw approximately 438,000 truck movements and 1,757 vessel calls in 2022. Foreign Trade Zone No. 62, in which is the port is situated, is ranked second in the nation in the value of exports, with more than $5.2 billion in exported goods in 2021, up from $4.1 billion in 2020.
Campirano said he expects the growth in cargo volume to continue.
“In fact, we’re already looking into 2023 and the forecast looks like we’re going to be busy,” he said.
